The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has confirmed that the 539 coins seized from two people coming from Pakistan in separate incidents were rare and of great historical value.
Customs commissioner Capt Sanjay Gahlot said some of the coins were more than 2,000 years old.
“A total of 239 coins were seized from an Indian national who entered India via Attari road route in October last year. A Pakistani national travelling by Samjhauta Express had entered India carrying 300 coins in January this year,” he said.
Gahlot said they did not make the seizure public because it was not confirmed how valuable the coins were. “Now, when the ASI has given its report, we have made it public,” he said.
Gahlot said, “The ASI has confirmed that the coins were rare, belonging to the Indo-Greek, Shershah Suri and other eras. Eight coins date back to more than 2,000 years.”
{{/usCountry}}Gahlot said, “The ASI has confirmed that the coins were rare, belonging to the Indo-Greek, Shershah Suri and other eras. Eight coins date back to more than 2,000 years.”
{{/usCountry}}He said the customs will now ask the people who carried the coins to join the investigations.
Coin break-up
Lion-elephant type coins (2nd century BC-1st century CE): 8
Taxila coins (animal motif on one side and Greek deities on the other): 32
Indo-Greek coins, Indo Scythian coins :140
Sultanate and Mughal period coins: 100
Sher Shah and Akbar era coins: 20
Lahore Mint, Sultanate and Mughal coins: 20
Akbar and Sultanate coins: 11
Kushana, Azes, Scythian and Kallash coins from Kashmir: 193
Lodhi sultanate coins: 15
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